Sunday, 17 January 2016

Calvin's Institutes. Book I, Chapter 16

This is the post #16 of the Calvin's Institutes summary series.God did not merely create the world only to step back to watch it progress to its end, nor does He only intervene time to time in special occasions. When we say, "God is the Creator" we affirm that God has created everything out of nothing and sustains and directs everything even now both in grand and general way, such as the laws of physics and movements of stars and planets as well as in specific and particular ways, such as one's lifespan or a traffic jam. This is the meaning of providence, that God governs all events. This is different to the stoic idea of fate (fatalism?). Our course in this life is not set by a mindless law of nature. We are governed by a God who loves and cares for His creation, especially His children. There is no such thing as chance, or a fortune. We can only speak of fortune and such like if we mean by that the true causes of events are hidden from us. They are only known to God.